LA film production dips 19 percent in 2009

LOS ANGELES 
Movie and TV filming on the streets of Los Angeles plummeted last year but a new state tax credit program helped stop some runaway production.

FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that handles city film permits, says on-location filming days declined 19 percent in 2009 from the previous year - the largest year-to-year decline since they were first tracked in 1993.

Feature film production alone dropped 30 percent.

The decline was blamed on the recession, lingering effects of an actors contract dispute and a continuing exodus of production to cheaper locales.

Last year, California began a tax incentive program to keep filming in the state. Some 50 productions qualified for about $100 million. FilmL.A. says the program helped keep 10 feature films in town.